’Thank you for giving me a pair of eyes!’ they said as they received new walking sticks from Sadhu Vaswani Mission Pune!
Do you know the value of your eyes? Should we not feel grateful to God for the gifts He has bestowed on us — two eyes with which to see the beauty of the world around us? — Rev. Dada J.P. Vaswani Eyes, how invaluable are they! It was Hellen Keller who said, “Of all the senses, sight must be the most delightful.” Sadhu Vaswani Mission, that actively engages in the ‘Sight for the Sightless’ programme offering free eye-surgeries, throughout the year, to countless people in another initiative to aid the visually impaired groups, distributed white cane sticks in a two-day drive held on 1st and 10th January 2021. The Mission was approached by a group that sought assistance for availing of the sticks. In an effort to meet the demands immediately, the first drive was carried on 1st January 2021 where cane sticks were distributed with joy packets. A small get-together was organised for the group members near Nehru Stadium, Swargate. 10th January 2021, more cane sticks were distributed at Congress Bhavan where all members had gathered for the celebration of World Braille Day (4th January). “It was an experience that words wouldn’t do justice to! We handed over each cane stick personally to all the recipients while they were seated for the programme. Their faces had an unusual glow and their smile was right from the heart! The sheer joy of something as small as a cane stick that brought to them was inspiring. More than them, it was we who were thrilled by their demeanour, the acceptance with which they live and the cheer that they have in their lives despite the impairment is a lesson to learn,” said a volunteer. “What stood out to me, was a comment by a beneficiary who said, ‘Thank you for giving me a pair of eyes.’ We were speechless. Little do we know, how important are these cane sticks to them!” he added. A six-fold cane stick was given to women that would fit into their purse and a four-fold to cane stick was given to men.